Mysore, Mar 14 : A company in Mysore, is working overtime, ahead of the general elections, to manufacture the indelible ink used to dye the tip of each voter’s finger to prevent repeat voting.

The company named Mysore paints and Varnish Limited was established in 1935 with the sole aim of preparing lacquer for government and other documents. But in 1972, the company established indelible ink unit used for the sole purpose of elections.

Ravi Shankar, Chairman, Mysore Paints and Varnish Limited said that their company was the pioneer in India, to manufacture indelible ink.

“We are the pioneers in India which manufacture indelible ink. For these Lok Sabha Elections, we are preparing two million bottles of indelible ink each of which contain ten millilitre of ink for the purpose of the elections,” said Shankar.

The quantum of ink for delivery in each phial has doubled to ten millilitre as the poll panel had changed the ink marking rule in 2006 on a voter’s finger from a dot to a line that runs from top of the nail to the bottom of first joint.

The ndelible ink, a mix of chemicals, dyes, aromatic material and silver nitrate, is a singular commodity that is exclusively used in state-run elections from local bodies to the Parliament.

From Dictatorship to Democracy (A Conceptual Framework for Liberation) by Gene Sharp

Chapter 3 – Whence Comes the Power

The “monkey master” fable

A Fourteenth Century Chinese parable by Liu-Ji, for example, outlines this neglected understanding of political power quite well:

In the feudal state of Chu an old man survived by keeping monkeys in his service. The people of Chu called him “ju gong” (monkey master). Each morning, the old man would assemble the monkeys in his courtyard, and order the eldest one to lead the others to the mountains to gather fruits from bushes and trees. It was the rule that each monkey had to give one-tenth of his collection to the old man. Those who failed to do so would be ruthlessly flogged. All the monkeys suffered bitterly, but dared not complain.

One day, a small monkey asked the other monkeys: “Did the old man plant all the fruit trees and bushes?” The others said: “No, they grew naturally.” The small monkey further asked: “Can’t we take the fruits without the old man’s permission?” The others replied: “Yes, we all can.” The small monkey continued: “Then, why should we depend on the old man; why must we all serve him?”

Before the small monkey was able to finish his statement, all the monkeys suddenly became enlightened and awakened.

On the same night, watching that the old man had fallen asleep, the monkeys tore down all the barricades of the stockade in which they were confined, and destroyed the stockade entirely. They also took the fruits the old man had in storage, brought all with them to the woods, and never returned. The old man finally died of starvation.Yu-li-zi says, “Some men in the world rule their people by tricks and not by righteous principles. Aren’t they just like the monkey master? They are not aware of their muddleheadedness. As soon as their people become nlightened, their tricks no longer work.”